Dead Space: Requiem for the Fallen
by Dunedan
Summary: The USG Kellion makes its way towards the USG Ishimura, this time with one more passenger in tow. How will his presence affect the fates of those onboard, and how will he cope with the nightmarish horrors that have been unleashed among them?
1. Knowing Burdens

**Recently I just got into playing the amazing game Dead Space and…of course, I had an idea for a story with a single new character, what if the Kellion had six crewmembers and Isaac actually spoke? Yet another tale of a newcomer thrown into danger, horror, and death, I hope you enjoy it =)**

CEC Mission ER529

Status Update

USG Kellion en route to repair systems

PRIMARY MISSION ASSETS

Isaac Clarke - Engineering and Systems Specialist

Kendra Daniels – Computer Specialist

Derek Pendergast – P-Sec Supervisor

Zack Hammond – Chief Security Officer

Directive A: Locate mining vessel USG Ishimura

Directive B: Diagnose and repair communication blackout

Sub-Directive A: Ascertain reason for P-sec Headquarters Colony Blackout

TIME TO CONTACT POINT: 2 hours

The hours passed slowly as Isaac sat from his relatively comfortable chair, gazing out into the swirling energy of the vortex before them.

He had to admit, the shockpoint drive was an amazing system and without it they wouldn't reach the Ishimura for decades rather than hours, however they couldn't get there fast enough for his taste.

Johnston and Chen remained at their posts, despite being the hired grunts for this trip they had ample flight training to double as pilots, how they could remain awake so long just staring at the vortex was beyond him. It was just like the company to double up tasks to save a quick buck; they were shorthanded to begin with.

"Not sleeping well?"

Isaac very nearly bolted from his seat, however relaxed upon seeing it was Derek behind him holding two steaming cups of what passed for coffee in his hands. Still waiting for his heart to slow down he gave the newcomer the most annoyed look he could muster.

"Yea me neither," he replied to Isaacs silent rebuttal, handing over one of the cups. "No idea how Hammond and Kendra can just knock out like that. Any messages from the Ishimura so far?"

Isaac only shook his head solemnly, taking a short sip of his drink as he returned his gaze to the consoles.

"Still no word? Heh, darndest thing I ever heard, first all contact with the planet side security and the colony is lost, and now even the Ishimura goes silent? That's got to be a record for most simultaneous malfunctions since what's his name found that rock on Earth.

Isaac couldn't help but chuckle, they both shared a dislike of Unitology, though he couldn't imagine Derek's was greater than his, and they enjoyed sharing a good laugh when possible. Not to mention the fact that Derek refused to swear due to his code of conduct always made for a good chuckle when he would make substitutions for the words.

"I'll be happy when we arrive and get some word from Commander James at the colony, you ever met him?"

Isaac shook his head, mouth still full from the last gulp of coffee.

"He took over as head of P-sec planet side three years ago when they started mining Aegis VII. Good man, best P-sec officer I ever met, except for possibly Neumann. If there was a man who hated Unitology as much as you or I, it was him."

"Can't focus on anything other than rock-bashing I see," came a familiar yet welcome voice from the cabin door.

"Kendra, glad you could join us," Derek greeted cheerily, raising his cup as if to make a toast. "Have a seat, there's plenty of rock-bashing for us all."

Grabbing a pad from the nearby console Kendra obliged, though obviously appeared more interested in studying the computer schematics of the Ishimura than making small talk with the crew as always.

"Why do you look at those things so much?" Derek asked trying to glance around the back of the pad to see what was on it. "I'm sure Captain Mathias will let you check out what caused the blackout from the computer himself. Planning to hack the system?" He chuckled slightly before pausing for her response.

"For all we know the reason the blackout occurred was because the captain is indisposed," she replied without taking her eyes of the pad. "If for some reason he can't let us into the computer I'm going to need to find a way around it. And this is one of the most sophisticated computer systems in the verse."

"If anyone can find a way I'm sure it's you, you'd probably hack your way through whether they like it or not."

Kendra stared at him for a few moments, one eyebrow raised as if wondering if he had some ulterior motive for his compliments.

"Thank you Derek," she responded at last. "I didn't read your file yet, why exactly are you here? We got all the personnel required to fix up the Ishimura."

"My mission has nothing to do with the Ishimura," Derek replied, focusing all his attention on Kendra.

Isaac could only smirk as he watched them converse. He knew Derek had a crush on her, how fun it was making him blush at the idea. Isaac had been friends with Derek's parents and had known him since he was little, at barely twenty years old Derek always succeeded at making him feel old. He was far too shy around her in Isaac's opinion, after hearing enough stories about Nicole and him perhaps Derek would finally ask her for a date…maybe after we got back to the Sprawl…

"CEC coordinated my task when we lost contact with the colony, P-sec Headquarters failed to send a report at the last quarterly barely a day before planet crack. I was supposed to head out to find the cause; it was either coincidence or just luck that they lost communications with the Ishimura soon after so they decided to combine our missions."

"Who was supposed to send the report?"

"Sergeant Neumann, nice guy but got jipped by his Unitologist wife a few years back so he came to Aegis VII to make a fresh start."

"You rock-bashers must like to stick together," she replied, for the first time since they set out she put down the pad, giving him her undivided attention.

"What about you? Do you believe in Unitology?"

"Me?" She laughed sarcastically. "No no, that line of thinking just isn't my style."

Forget the Sprawl; Isaac thought silently, he might make a move before we reach…"

"Sirs," Corporal Chen shouted back, we're receiving a transmission from ahead, same direction as the Ishimura."

"Hammond get up here," Kendra shouted back into the cabin as the message flickered to life before them.

A rather attractive young blond woman appeared on the scream, she was wearing an Ishimura medical bay uniform which appeared disheveled, and her facial expression was that of composure masking mind-numbing fear.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry about everything. I wish I could just talk to someone."

The entire crew watched as the transmission continued, Isaac slowly got to his feet, his face contorting in wonder as he gazed upon the image of the woman before them.

"Nicole…" he whispered, his voice scarcely escaping his lips, a growing sense of dread encompassing all aboard the ship, all alone in the dark

**This is just the first chapter but depending upon popularity I will continue it, read, review, and enjoy =).**


	2. Enemies All Around

**The boarding of the Ishimura begins, Once more unto the nightmare…**

"There it is, the USG Ishimura," spoke the burly form of the ships chief security officer Zack Hammond. "The largest in her class."

"And the first from what I've heard," Derek chimed in, gazing out across the field at the steadily enlargening vessel. "Hard to believe there's over a thousand people over there."

"Why is it all dark? I don't see any running lights," Kendra asked, leaning towards the glass as if to get a better look.

"Pendergast, are you getting any hails from P-sec HQ?"

Derek sighed heavily, he never liked his last name but Hammond felt it necessary to always refer to him as such. Steadily he punched in several keys of his pad; the monitor remained as it had been the past days…blank.

"Nothing on any channel P-sec or otherwise, this is really weird, at this distance we should easily be able to pick up communiqué from the colony, or the Ishimura at the very least."

Almost in response a blaring static-filled transmission filled the screen for several moments before cutting out altogether.

"What was that?"

"Downed array, sounds like they're having problems with their encoder," Kendra responded. "You get us down there and Isaac and I can fix it, 48 hours max."

"Chen, take us in closer. Don't you worry Mr. Pendergast, once we dock with the Ishimura I'm sure they'll lend you one of their many shuttles to check out the colony while we affect repairs."

The Kellion pulled closer to the Ishimura's hull, a blue beam shimmering between them as the auto-docking procedure kicked in, bringing the two ships together.

"Nicole will be glad to see us Isaac, you particularly" Derek reassured, leaning on the chair Isaac had been resting in nonchalantly the last 2 hours since receiving the garbled transmission from Nicole. "Once we find out what happened we can…"

Derek never finished his sentence as a sudden tremendous jolt sent him flying to the ground, his unprotected head smacking against a nearby bulkhead.

"Auto-dock is off course," shouted Chen. "We're going to hit the hull."

"Go to manual!" Hammond shouted before Derek lost consciousness, the deck of the Kellion fading away to blackness.

* * *

"You alright….Derek……you okay?"

Derek slowly pulled himself back to consciousness, shaking his head before realizing his body was slightly raised, cradled in the arms of Kendra Daniels.

"Feeling better," he chuckled nervously; taking her hand as she gently helped him to his feet. "What the heck happened?"

"Their guidance tether was malfunctioning, very nearly shot us straight into the Ishimura's hull."

"Another malfunction? Isaac has his work cut out for him."

"And until we get their array operational so do you unless you have some other way of contacting the colony HQ." Isaac replied, emerging from the shadows in the back of the ship.

"AAAH!!!" Derek shouted, jumping slightly before finally calming down. "Must you wear that thing every time?"

Isaac was decked out in his engineer RIG suit, his face hidden behind a bulky helmet. His eyes couldn't be seen, covered by a single green bar stretching across the width of the helmet.

"More fun for me," though they couldn't tell Derek was sure Isaac was smiling behind his suit.

As the crew filed from the ship Derek stopped by his locker, silently thanking its relatively undamaged state despite the crash.

He always felt a sense of pride when he donned his P-sec Jacket, zipping it up he made sure his health monitor was in the green across his back up his spine. His P-sec pistol sat in its holster, still hanging never having been used. Silently he slipped it onto his belt, grabbing all his spare clips for good measure.

The scene that greeted them as he emerged from the shuttle was far from what he had expected. The shuttle bay was dimly lit with emergency lights only, not a soul could be seen when it was standard operating procedure to have at least one flight crew on deck at all times for unscheduled arrivals. Instead only a dark walk-way greeted them leading up to the entrance to the vessel from the hangar bay.

"You didn't lost contact with the port booster…..you lost the port booster," he heard Kendra mutter, noting the obvious lack of a port engine on the Kellion, no way it was going anywhere now.

"Where the hells the flight crew or the security detail?" Hammond asked angrily.

Isaac only shrugged, as much in the dark as the rest of them.

The presence of Corporal Chen and Johnston's pulse rifles eased the group's sense of dread, but not by much. With Isaac hacking the door they entered the main lounge area of the bay area, deserted like the rest.

"Damn it," Kendra shouted to herself. "The doors locked, doesn't look like there's any power reaching it."

"Then reroute the damn power," Hammond muttered loudly before regaining his composure, obviously flustered at the turn of events that had befallen them.

"I'm trying, Isaac access the security console and check out the damage we're looking at here, I can't imagine what else could go wrong on this ship."

Isaac nodded, making his way to the adjacent compartment, the door sliding shut behind him as he accessed the computer, Chen looking through the glass curiously.

"That looks like a lot of damage," Chen muttered making note of all the flashing red signs across the holographic representation of the Ishimura.

"What could cause that much internal damage?" Derek wondered, his hand fiddling the edge of his pistol. "It looked fine from the outside."

"No clue," Kendra muttered, still busily clacking keys across her keypad. "It's almost as if they stopped ship-wide maintenance, these vessels don't run themselves after all."

"Just keep trying," Hammond ordered. "Maybe we can try another route to the…"

Before his thoughts could be expressed the room was plunged into a state of utter darkness, the beating hearts of the collective Kellion crew could be clearly heard for a brief moment, finally drowned out by the blaring alarms.

"What the hell is that?" Kendra asked worriedly as the flashing warning lights kicked in, Chen and Johnston waving their weapons back and forth searching for the threat. Derek unlatched his pistol swiftly, being sure to remove the safety long kept in check.

"Quarantine warning," Hammond replied, somehow calmer in the face of an impending delay. "Alarm probably tripped when we restarted the system, so everybody stay calm."

"Isaac's trapped," Derek shouted, pointing to the now-locked door separating Isaac from the team.

"Did you hear that?" Kendra cried, not even she could hide the fear in her voice.

Amidst the blaring alarms and flashing lights Derek almost thought he could make out a scratching sound, as if someone was grinding their nails against the metal making up the ship. A loud clatter drew his attention as one of the ceiling grates plummeted to the ground.

"Hammond there's something in the rooms with us!" Kendra shouted.

It was impossible to see clearly amidst the constantly shifting lights, however Derek for a brief moment made out what appeared to be a ghastly shape far too great to be a man looming over the confused Corporal Chen, still oblivious to the danger.

"Chen behind you!" he shouted, bringing his pistol to bear against the shape, but it was too late.

He never had time to scream as the monstrous form in a single swoop of its arm decapitated the unsuspecting soldier, leaping upon his headless bleeding form like an animal would captured prey.

"Man down! Open fire open fire!" Hammond shouted at the top of his lungs, prompting Johnston to begin unloading his pulse rifle into the creature's torso, Derek followed suit, pumping it full of rounds from his pistol.

Derek's heart was racing as he emptied his clip into the creature, _how could that thing still be standing_ he wondered as he started replacing his spent ammo. _My pistol holds fifteen rounds, and Johnston's dropped a good fifty or more and is still going, yet it looks barely inconvenienced!_

"Kendra get that damn door open!" Hammond shouted, aiming his own rifle yet unable to fire with Derek standing between him and the creature.

"Just another second! She shouted, her fingers moving faster than they ever had in the face of the horror they had walked into.

A bloodcurdling scream filled the air, forcing Derek to turn his head yet again, his insides felt like ice as he saw what had delivered such a cry.

Johnston had been skewered through his torso; a second monster had emerged from the vent behind him while they'd been focused on the first. With a roar the creature impaled him once more before tossing his now-limp body aside like a doll.

"Got it!" Kendra shouted, the door lock releasing, they could see the door leading out the back of the security station Isaac was currently trapped within unlocked as well.

As the doors slid open the shape of several more monsters dropping from the vents into the security station, Isaac backed up towards the back door, looking between it and his friends.

"Isaac we'll be fine just get the hell out of there!" Derek shouted, pumping several more rounds into the approaching monstrosities, ducking along with Hammond and Kendra into the door, sealing it behind them.

"Could someone tell me what the HELL is going on here?" Hammond shouted, kicking the floor, Kendra pacing nearby, Derek still had his pistol pointed at the door, fearful they could break through at any moment.

"W-we need to find Isaac, he doesn't have any weapons," slowly lowering his gun Derek turned to the others. "Ch-chen and Johnston…"

"We're going to end up like them if we can't get off this ship, won't be able to do much through this quarantine," Kendra sighed.

"They were using the goddamned vents," Hammond berated, finally calming down once more. "Through those they could get to every part of the ship."

Derek's gaze immediately fell upon the lone air vent situated directly above the tram station where they were now currently standing, his pistol arching slowly in its direction.

"If only we could contact Isaac we could get him to lift the quarantine, we can't do squat from this side with the tram down."

"Calm down Kendra, Isaac can take care of himself, if we just sit tight I'm sure he'll be able to…Pendergast put that thing away!"

During the exchange Derek had been unmoving, his pistol still aimed at the dark vent looming over their heads.

"No offense sir but I just watched two trained soldiers get torn apart in a matter of seconds, also I'm a member of P-sec and you have no authority over me so I'll keep this aimed where I darn well want it."

Hammond grumbled as he continued trying to reach Isaac over his RIG communications.

"Most likely the cl-closed bulkheads will prevent RIG communications," Derek stuttered, barely noticing Kendra slowly walking alongside him."

"Keep it together detective," she said sternly, laying her hand on his shoulder. "We need to remain calm, and keep it together if we're going to make it out of here."

Her hand sent Goosebumps across his shoulder; hesitantly he lowered his pistol, turning towards Kendra.

"Thanks, is there anything we can do from here at all to help Isaac…" he swallowed hard. "In there?"

"Afraid not," she sighed. "Until he makes it to the tram control station we can't even unlock these…"

"Get down!" Derek shouted, jumping towards Kendra and pulling her away as the vent cover came crashing down followed closely by yet another of the strange creatures.

The lighting was good enough to get a positive look at it this time, truly there was no way these things were human. The monster loomed over Derek and Kendra, its skin looked flayed, as if it had shredded its own body with the extended sharpened spikes of bones protruding from its arms. A second pair of arms was present at its stomach with various internal organs visible; its jaw was missing, revealing an unnaturally long flailing tongue.

Derek covered Kendra's face with his arm in vain, his pistol lying just out of reach.

"Get back you freak!" Shouted Hammond, letting his pulse rifle unload against the creature, doing as little to it as they had in the previous room though forcing it back a few feet.

"Stay here," Derek whispered in Kendra's ear, now given enough breathing room to retrieve his pistol. Taking aim he started firing as well.

His first few shots struck it in the chest; however as the monster staggered his aim wavered, sending his following rounds into its left arm, severing it from the body.

Hammonds chaotic pulse fire pelted its skull, shattering it, the beast staggered blindly across the tram station, a horrendous gurgling noise emerging from the shredded remains of its throat.

"It's limbs!" Hammond shouted. "If they body and head don't work go for the limbs!"

Derek hastily complied, targeting its right arm while Hammond's seemingly endless supply of bullets tore its legs out from under it. As the fleshy remains of its torso struck the floor it finally stopped moving, a final gurgling sound echoing into pleasant yet ominous silence.

"The hell are those things? Kendra shouted. "Is that the crew?"

"The crew?" Derek asked, getting to his feet. "What makes you think these things are the crew?"

Sighing heavily, as if pointing out an obvious fact to a child she kneeled to the shredded remains of the torso, pointing out a bloody name tag still latched somehow to the chest.

"George Greggs?" Derek muttered reading the card absentmindedly before staggering back at the realization. "Dear god."

Still standing there, unable to fathom what was happening; movement could be seen out of the corner of their eyes.

The blast doors protecting the tram control station lifted, revealing Isaac standing on the other side of the reinforced glass, he held a plasma cutter in his right hand, and his RIG suit was stained with blood.

"Isaac!" Derek shouted, running to the edge of the tram tracks as close as he could get to his old friend. "Are you alright?" he shouted.

Isaac replied with a shake of his head, pointing from his ears to his wrist.

"Soundproof, ooo sorry," Derek muttered silently, mentally berating himself as he activated the personal cam communication system on his wrist. Slowly a small hologram depicting Isaac's RIG suit-covered face shimmered to life before his eyes.

"Isaac, thank god you're alive," Hammond responded, speaking at the hologram. "We ran into some more of those things on the way here. We're going to need this tram operational if we're going to salvage this mission at all."

"Didn't you hear me before Hammond?" Kendra shouted obviously frustrated. "Everything we need is on the other side of this quarantine we can't reach it from here."

"We can't but you can, Isaac we need you to repair the tram from that end, once done we can make our way to the bridge and see what we're really dealing with."

Isaac only nodded, waving goodbye he terminated the hologram, the last Derek saw was his bulky suited form disappearing out the back door leading away from the control room.

"Anything we can do to help him from here?" Derek asked, his breathing rate finally dropping to some sense of normalcy.

"Afraid not," Kendra replied solemnly. "All we can do now is sit, wait, and hope."

**Thus ends the second chapter, what nightmares will they face at the bridge should Isaac be successful in his endeavor? If you liked it or have an opinion please review, constructive criticism is appreciated =)**


	3. New Developments

**Kendra, Derek, and Hammond await Isaac's lifting of the quarantine, the horror continues…..**

The three sat at the edge of the tram station, Hammond never lowering his pulse rifle, Derek and Kendra continued to fiddle with the door controls leading back to the loading bay.

"Hold that there," Kendra ordered as she continued working on her pad, Derek holding several scraps of metal at key areas in the door control board.

"And you're sure you can jury rig the door like this?" Derek asked, his arms starting to tire from so long with no movement.

"If you hold still…maybe," she muttered, focusing on the pad. "There!"

The pad let out a sharp electrical surge, sending sparks into Derek's hand, shouting painfully he dropped the metal instruments, instinctively biting his hand to halt the pain.

"Gah! Careful will you! Nearly blew my arm off!"

"Sorry, doors must be tougher than I thought, not likely we'll be able to access the computer core without the captain's authorization codes.

"All that time studying and you still can't get around the ships protocols?" Hammond asked as if reprimanding her. "We're going to need full ship access if we're going to make it through this."

"They are called protocols for a reason Hammond!" she shouted angrily. "They were put in place SPECIFICALLY to protect against what we're trying to do. I'll do my best but even if we can get around it it's going to take some time."

"At least we got time until Isaac clears the tram," Derek intervened, hoping to prevent their anger for one another from rising. "Those things haven't tried getting in for a while."

"And how do we know he'll even succeed? No doubt those things are all over the maintenance bay too."

"Have faith in him Kendra, Hammond promised to help find Nicole, with incentive like that Isaac is capable of anything."

"He really cares for her that much?"

"More than anything," Derek continued, taking a seat on the edge of the walkway in front of the tracks. "I've never seen two people more in love than those two, been together as long as I've known them, it's too bad they are almost always apart."

"And what pray tell is your motivation?" Kendra asked, sitting down beside him, giving Derek almost the impression she was analyzing him, however he saw no harm in telling.

"Nothing like Isaacs I'm afraid," he confessed. "Never even had anyone like that. If it weren't for Mr. Neumann… Abraham, I probably would never have joined P-sec, if what's happened here is on the colony…" his voice trailed off.

"Hoping he's still alive?" she asked, her voice softening.

"Praying would be more accurate. From what I've seen here I don't see how anyone could still be alive, but if Isaac can believe Nicole survived this, then so could Abraham. How about you Kendra?"

"Me? No…No, only person I've ever really trusted was my brother, and he's…" her voice trailed off.

"I'm sorry," Derek apologized. "I don't have any family left either; parent's died a couple years back…

"I know Derek," came a raspy voice from behind.

Ice filled Derek's chest as the voice reached his ears, slowly he turned his head towards the sound. Down the tracks, just barely within view of the light was a familiar face, the remainder of his body was enshrouded in darkness.

"Abe?" Derek asked, hopping to his feet. "Is that you?"

"What the hell are you looking at?" Hammond asked, pointing his rifle in the general direction Derek was facing, seeing nothing but black.

"We all remember your parent's death," Abraham Neumann continued. "But now we need your help, make us whole again, don't believe the lies."

Rubbing his eyes Derek looked at the track again, Neumann…or rather what he thought was Neumann was gone, leaving only the darkened tunnel behind.

"I…I thought I saw," Derek stuttered, but before he could answer a rumbling sound signaled the reactivation of main power, the tram station was bathed in light as they kicked on full power.

Across the way, the main shutters to the tram control station rolled up, revealing a triumphant Isaac on the other side, all the control consoles behind him fully operational.

"Well done Isaac!" Hammond shouted, forgetting his anger towards Kendra. "We'll make our way to the bridge; you proceed to the Kellion and get her prepped for launch."

Isaac nodded once more, making his way out the back on his way to the bay, Derek, Hammond and Kendra stepped onto the Tram, leading into the bowls of the blackened ship.

_What the hell was that?_ Derek thought to himself, letting his mind wander as the tram sped faster towards the bridge, where more of the mystery would be revealed.

**Sort of a short chapter, and sorry no Necromorphs, just character development lol. They reach the battle-ridden bridge next chapter, where more information on the fate of the Ishimura will be revealed. **


	4. Death From Above

**The team makes their way to the bridge, hounded all the way by the monsters in the darkness…..**

Another creature fell to the floor, its limbs blown to pieces by the strategic bullet placement of Derek's pistol; quickly he slammed another clip in, expecting more to come.

"There seems to be no end to them, is it possible this thing really has happened to the entire crew?"

"No way of knowing that until we can do a ship wide scan barring of course if that's inoperable as well," Kendra replied, unsure as what to believe in the chaos they now found themselves in.

"Bridge and primary operations, everyone get ready," Hammond ordered, bringing his pulse rifle to bear against the massive armored door before them, Derek following suit.

The door flew open with a bang as they drew near, revealing the darkened bridge, utterly deserted. Hesitantly the three made their way across the massive deck, taking note of the destroyed consoles, not a soul in sight, or even clues as to what happened to them. The massive windows illuminated the stars far in the reaches of space, numerous small meteor fragments passing by the ship as it drifted in orbit.

"Cover me," Kendra whispered, sitting herself down at one of the few undamaged control stations. "Just as I thought…ship wide sensors are down, I can detect Isaac's RIG suit from here, but more than three-quarters of the ship is dark."

"What about the memory systems? Can you access them from here?" Hammond asked, his previous anger abated, replaced by anxious fear.

"Yes but…we need the Captain's access codes, without them it'd take hours to crack the system if I could at all"

"Where is the Captain?" Derek asked, leaning over Kendra's shoulder to get a good look at the screen.

"Here it is, Captain Benjamin Mathius, Lower level….the morgue," Kendra's voice slumped. "The Captain's dead, according to the log it happened shortly before the ships systems started breaking down."

"So before this all happened…" Hammond activated his RIG suit, giving Isaac a full update of the situation. "Isaac is pretty close to the morgue now, he could retrieve Captain Mathius' codes from his RIG suit, is there anything we can do from up here Kendra?"

"Unfortunately not, I can start a ship diagnostic to see what else is broken, but that will take time."

"You said you can't access the ships logs without the code," Derek interjected. "Can you access any logs pertaining to the situation on the colony?"

"What the hell are you getting at Pendergast?" Hammond muttered, not seeing how such a query could help them off the ship.

"You two are doing your mission; I need to start doing mine. If this thing started on the colony then it could help us up here."

"Yes!" Kendra shouted, causing Derek and Hammond to jump. "They never got around to including the colony transmissions in official ships logs, they are still a part of incoming ship messages. It looks like the Ishimura even intercepted a few cross-colony transmissions."

Derek took a seat at the adjoining console, "transfer them to this station, while you run the diagnostic I'll look through these."

"Good luck with those," Hammond sighed. "I'll check out the Captain's nest, get a better view of where the Ishimura is drifting."

Ever keeping his rifle at the ready Hammond left them to their devices, the eerie calm of the bridge never once allowing them to ease their sense of impending doom.

The following hour included Kendra leaning back on her chair, keeping an eye on the diagnostic yet otherwise being unable to do much else. Derek was leaning towards his screen, unable to look away yet not desiring to watch it any longer, he knew he could never forget the horrified faces of the colonists for the rest of his life.

As Kendra could feel the exhaustion catch up with her she was interrupted from her lethargy to a loud grunt from Derek. As she looked up she could see him clutching his hand in pain, one of the video console screens beside his own was broken and shorting out.

"Derek what the hell is wrong with you?" she quickly leapt to her feet, seeing nothing else to do she tended to his hand, still bleeding and shaking in pain.

"The colony logs…" Derek raised his head slightly. "Several weeks ago they begin speaking of an increase in violent outbursts throughout the colony…with increasing frequency every day after uncovering what they believed was a genuine Unitology marker."

Kendra finished wrapping his hand, now shaking solely from anger, "A marker? Here on the ship?"

"It's here in storage," Derek answered before returning to his story. "P-sec was forced to beef up its armaments, theres even cases of domestic disputes ending in bloodbaths, but according to a log from P-sec Commander James one day before we lost contact many P-sec officers were being affected similarly."

"Then why are you…" Kendra started.

"Upon moving the marker that bas….that monster Captain Mathius issued a no-fly order aside from several shuttles full of corpses and that marker. He left everyone down there!"

"Calm down," Kendra replied after several awkward moments of silence. "Who knows how many survivors may be left down there, has there been any sign of those things down there?"

Silently Derek turned up the volume, rewinding to a recent recording he hit the play switch slowly.

The unmistakable roar of one of the creatures reverberated over the speakers, causing Kendra to jump, Derek sat unmoved.

"That was recorded from a P-sec detective over his RIG less than 9 hours prior to the communication blackout; it went dead 3 seconds after this recording."

Kendra had no reply, turning her face from him she set herself down in the neighboring seat.

"Here is the most recent recording, it somehow broke through the blackout interference just enough to reach the Ishimura 3 hours after the blackout. Most likely it was broadcast straight from the transmission tower. I'll play the last part of it."

The console leapt to life once more, displaying the face of a middle-aged man, his face was stern and covered in blood, his hair disheveled and torn.

"It started 12 hours ago…I haven't seen another living soul for the last six. They say there are no atheists in fox holes? But after what happened here its more like the other way around." As the transmission continued his face became contorted in sneers and maniacal smiles that kept appearing for a moment before being replaced once more with his stoic visage. "I'm gonna leave this recording, who knows, you might see something that convinces you…but I doubt it. Don't come looking for me…you may not like what you find."

As the man walked away from the screen it burst into constant static, silenced only by Derek shutting down the console.

Kendra could see the look in Derek's eyes, it was obvious he knew the man in the recording, but she decided not to push the matter.

The moment was interrupted once more by the ringing of Kendra and Derek's RIG communiqué.

"It's Isaac," Kendra shouted, reading the influx of information to her RIG. "He transmitted the codes!" Quickly she jumped into her previous chair, fingers typing furiously.

"Can you access the ship systems?"

"Everything!" she shouted enthusiastically. "Captain's logs, personal crew logs, even some…"

She paused squinting her eyes as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"_Beware,"_ whispered a ghostly voice in the distance.

"Crap!" Derek shouted, grabbing Kendra's arm he pulled her out of her seat, moments before a strange legless monster slammed into it, smashing the console.

Derek fell back, firing his pistol into the creature blowing its arms off. In a final death twitch the creature lashed out with its massive tail, impaling the console beside him, missing his face by inches.

The continuing roar alerted them to the presence of more, quickly Kendra jumped to her feet, her face twisted in a fit of rage over the destroyed consoles.

"Hammond!" Derek shouted into his jacket RIG. "They are all over the bridge, how is the captain's nest?"

The sound of grunts and struggles played over the RIG suit, the roars of another creature following.

"Damn," Hammond grunted. "Those things were all over me, the captain's nest is not secure I repeat, the captain's nest is not secure!"

"Kendra and I are abandoning the bridge!" Derek shouted, firing after another creature crawling on the ceiling. "Seal off the nest and hold tight!"

"The computer core!" Kendra shouted, pulling Derek by the shoulder toward the central elevator. "We can access the information straight from there, and it's got heavy doors for possible radiation leaks!"

"Fine, but call the elevator fast! I'm almost out of ammo!"

Darting across the bridge Kendra slammed the call button, summoning the lift instantly.

As Kendra jumped into the lift Derek took a running sprint, firing all his remaining rounds in his current clip at the creatures, dozens of them pouring out of every air vent and breach in the bridge walls. With a loud thud he hit the hard metal floor.

Kendra hit the button to close the elevator doors, a single larger creature taking a running leap at the defenseless elevator, able to lodge one of its claws inside enough to halt the lift.

With a single adrenaline-fueled kick Kendra shattered its claw, snapping it off inside the lift, the doors closing as the elevator and its two exhausted occupants finally began their long trip into the bowels of the Ishimura…..

**Derek and Kendra have been separated from Hammond, with Isaac wandering the battered ship making repairs and in search of Nicole, their journey through terror and death continues….. **

**Whew, that was fun, sorry for the lengthy time between chapters, I hope you enjoy =)**


	5. Reaching the Core of it All

**Derek and Kendra head for the computer core, Hammond trapped in the captain's nest and Isaac aiding him in repairing the Ishimura, the mystery behind Aegis VII deepens…**

The elevator reached the bottom of the shaft, the metal doors sliding open, one side jamming, forcing Kendra and Derek to squeeze through the other. Hesitantly Derek peered around the corner, his pistol leading the way, loaded with his final clip.

"Which way to the core?" Derek whispered, indicating the two splitting corridors ahead.

"Left here, right two rooms up," Kendra replied, checking her wrist indicator to be sure.

"Stay behind me, and keep your eyes peeled for anything else we can use as a weapon, no way this clip will last very long if we're spotted."

As they continued Kendra's RIG communicator kicked on, no visual but Hammond's voice soon filled the air.

"We have a problem; Isaac just reported in, the Kellion has been destroyed, a total loss."

"What?" Kendra shouted. "How?"

"One of the bastards stowed away onboard, did something that caused it to explode, Isaac barely escaped alive."

"Any escape pods we could use left in the captain's nest?" Derek asked, leaning over to Kendra's wrist to speak into her RIG.

"A few, but all short ranged, no way we'd be able to reach an inhabitable sector before running out of air or water all the way out here."

"Once we have access to the core we can check for any working shuttles in the bay," Kendra replied. "We will contact you then."

At a quickening pace Derek continued forward, it took all his nerve to keep his eyes off the blood-spattered walls of the Ishimura. Every few feet there would be gaps in the carnage replaced by strange symbols etched upon the wall…in what appeared to be the very same blood.

"What the heck are these symbols?" Derek whispered back to Kendra. "I saw some of these on the bridge, is that blood?"

"It looks like the same writings on the marker, and I know the smell of dried blood well enough," she responded, glancing back and forth in preparation for another attack.

"The marker?" Derek turned in surprise. "You saw it?"

Kendra hesitated a moment, as if she realized she mentioned something she rather shouldn't have. "Yes, the recent logs you accessed from the colony had a recording of the marker from a RIG cam from when it was first discovered. I got a good look at it before the necromorph smashed the console."

"Necromorph? That's what those things are?"

"Apparently, it was a term made by some doctor aboard shortly after they started spreading. Other than transmissions from the colony the medical logs were the most recently updated after the ship started breaking down."

"So there may be other survivors! Nicole worked in the medical sector; can we track RIG signals from the computer core?"

"I won't be able to look for a specific person, with all the computer malfunctions that would require someone with knowledge of the individual RIG status of every crew member, but I can track basic RIG signals, that will tell us if there is someone still alive in all this."

After several tense moments, the growls of the ship seeming to follow them, they reached a set of massive doors already partly opened. Scattered around the entrance were discarded power tools and shredded clothing belonging to a maintenance crew.

"God," Kendra muttered, looking over the gruesome remains.

"Looks like they had the same idea we did….wait!"

Running ahead Derek noticed several shimmering objects sticking out of the dark, hesitantly he retrieved them, wiping off the gore and as much blood as he could.

"It's a divet pistol; one of these guys must have been Ishimura security." Getting to his feet Derek gently tossed the pistol into Kendra's waiting hands. "Here, you'll need this; there were some spare magazines too."

"Thanks," Kendra replied, smiling briefly before returning to her normal stoic sell. Quickly she checked the current magazine before slamming it back into place. "What is that you got there?"

Derek held up the last of the objects he had found, revealing a damaged audio log, without saying a word he pressed the play button.

"Jesus! Did you guys hear that?" the voice played back. "I'm telling ya they are here!"

"Shut up Hiro or so help me…just get that door fixed!"

"I already told you I'm almost done, just a few more seconds and I'll…O god Harrison, Jenna look out behind you!"

The sound of screams and automatic weapons fire blared from the small audio device followed by a roar of one of the necromorphs before the log cut out.

"Geez, they were so close," Derek slumped his arms. "Can the doors be closed?"

"Just another second, "Kendra replied, fiddling with the opened panel…"there!"

The doors opened to their fullness, the power light activating.

Before them stood the main computer core, a massive spherical machine stretching the length of the room before disappearing behind the walls. Aside from the main door there were no visible alternate entrances to the core room.

The doors closed with a clang behind them, the hiss of the pressurized seal bringing relieved smiles to their faces.

"Doors strong enough to block a nuclear explosion behind us and all the information we need to survive this in front of us," Kendra smiled. Not wasting a moment she booted up the main computer console, accessing the information of the Ishimura.

"And not an air vent in sight," Derek could not help but smile, activating his RIG. "Hammond, Isaac, Kendra and I have sealed ourselves in the computer core, how are things on your end?"

"Pendergast? Man am I glad to hear from you," Hammond called in. "Isaac is here with me, I'm afraid we have some bad news. The ADS cannons auto-targeting is shot and these asteroids from the planet are getting bigger, can either of you two reach cannon control?"

A violent crash followed by constant scratching sounds echoed from the reinforced core doors, as the monsters outside desired to get in.

"That's a no go Hammond, we just sealed ourselves in and those things are knocking for dinner, no way out that I can see."

"Damn, Isaac, you're going to have to take care of this. Get down to the ADS cannon on the fore deck and hold off those asteroids, I'll do my best to get auto targeting back online."

The painful sigh of Isaac could be heard over the RIG, Derek felt bad, between Isaac lifting the quarantine and making his various repairs he more than any of them had fought those things and now was forced to go back out and face them again.

"Isaac, don't give up hope," Derek said, hoping to encourage Isaac. "We haven't been able to look at much of the information yet, but there are definitely survivors, there was a log update from medical only a few hours ago."

"Nicole?" Isaac asked hopefully.

"Unknown, we were interrupted before we could ascertain the identity of the doctor. I'll check it out, just don't give up."

Before Isaac could reply static began to overtake the signal, drowning him out.

"What's going on?" Derek asked, frantically attempting to recalibrate his RIG signal.

"I don't know," Kendra replied, her fingers typing quickly across the console. "Something is jamming Hammond's RIG from within the ship; I'll try to get around it."

"Could it be from another survivor? Any luck on tracking RIG signals?"

"Already online, I am detecting about a half dozen RIG signals from the portions of the ship where sensors are still functional."

"A half dozen….out of 1187?" Derek could not believe the numbers; he had hoped that at the very least a few dozen would have succeeded in barricading themselves somewhere against the creatures…but so few….

"Unfortunately, and one can be ruled out as Isaac heading to the ADS cannon and Hammond on the bridge, that leaves two moving through engineering, one in the shuttle bay, and one in medical."

"I thought Isaac was just in medical on his way to the morgue, he didn't mention seeing anyone."

"Maybe they moved in after he left, at the moment the signal is holding steady in one of the office quarters of the med sector."

Searching for an alternate route Derek began looking around the core, the scratching continued at the door; lord knows how many necromorphs waited outside.

"There has to be some way around those things!" Angrily he kicked the wall, immediately regretting it as pain shot through his foot.

Looking up his pain subsided as he noticed a series of square indentations up on the wall, each one barely large enough for an adult.

"What are those for?"

Kendra looked up from the console for the first time since sitting down, "those are maintenance tubes for CEC technicians; they have them all over CEC certified vessels and the Sprawl. Don't worry each one of them is as reinforced as the door."

"Could you reseal that after I left and reopen one when I return?"

Kendra stopped typing, a look of curiosity and horror crossing her face. "Why would you do that? We are just fine in here, you don't need…."

"We may be able to save those people," Derek interrupted, trying to find something to stand on to reach the tube. "And there is enough room for all of us in here."

"Derek…"

"If those things spot me I won't come back, I would never lead them to you…can you reseal the tubes?"

Kendra just stared at him for a moment, she looked as if she was thinking of something to prevent him from leaving, but couldn't.

"Yes, I can seal and open them from in here," slowly she got up, walking underneath the tube high on the wall. "Here hop on."

Crouching down she motioned for him to get atop her shoulders.

Carefully Derek put his foot on her shoulders, she grunted as she pulled herself to her full height, allowing him to reach the tube.

"Sorry," he apologized, knowing he probably weighed too much for her to easily hold him up, fortunately whatever Kendra was wearing gave him a good footing as he activated the keypad on the side, opening the tube with a depressurizing hiss.

With a loud grunt he pulled himself into the tube, turning to Kendra.

"Reseal this the moment I'm through, and stay safe!"

"Wait," Kendra shouted, rushing back to the console. "Take these." Quickly she threw a handful of magazines towards the hatch, Derek expertly catching them. "That's all the extra ammunition; I'll just keep the one mag in my pistol."

"Much appreciated," he shouted, slipping the extra ammo into his jacket, crawling into the vent.

"Keep an eye on your RIG indicator!" She shouted as he disappeared into the vent. "I'll transmit any data I find on the incident down on the colony to you as I find it!"

As the tube door sealed behind him Derek's RIG activated, broadcasting Kendra's voice throughout the darkened tunnel.

"The interference seems to only be affecting my connection with Hammond's RIG, don't ask me why, I can maintain contact with you and Isaac. From here I can track your signal and guide you, if you hold your course for a few hundred yards or so and make a left you will be very close to the landing bay. The RIG signal coming from there appears to be pacing the control room."

Silently Derek continued crawling through the cramped tube, only his small gun-mounted flashlight leading the way, the shadows seeming to follow him as he made his way around the horrific monsters below...

**Detective Pendergast seeks out the few survivors of the Ishimura, hoping the save all the lives he can…  
Hope you enjoyed the Chapter, I recently finished Dead Space 2 and I was on a roll =)**


	6. All Alone in the Night

**Detective Pendergast makes his way to the landing bay, seeking survivors within the depths of death and sorrow of the Ishimura….**

After the seemingly endless crawl through the maintenance shaft he had felt he had enough. Kendra had been guiding him since his departure from the core, and with all the detours required to avoid the countless terrors of the vessel Derek was ready to leave the cramped quarters.

"Kendra, I'm at the landing bay maintenance hatch."

With a hiss the hatch opened, revealing the landing bay they had used to gain entrance to the Ishimura…it felt so long ago. The still-smoking remains of the Kellion sat at the bottom of the bay, no crews available to remove the melancholic sight.

"Is he still in the control room?"

"Not for the main landing bay," Kendra informed him, her voice echoing in as a video her face appeared shimmering in front of him, generated by his RIG suit. "He's in the control room of the main shuttle bay, head through the flight lounge and work your way up, I can unlock the doors from here."

"He may be trying to find a working shuttle; I'll check the bay when I get there." Derek followed the ramp up through the newly unlocked gate, the expansive bay area greeting his arrival.

On a ship such as the Ishimura there were several bays such as this, each one holding a handful of shuttles reserved for specific expeditions and ship executives. While most of the pads were empty, one held the battered remains of a wrecked shuttle obviously in no state to fly. Working his way deeper into the room he noticed on the far end near the control room sat what appeared to be an undamaged shuttle.

"Kendra you are going to love this," he shouted into his RIG, a widening smile on his face. "Most of the shuttles are gone or scrapped, but I got one that looks as if it hasn't been touched!"

"I can see it from here," she responded through voice only. "See if you can get inside, and pray all the systems are working."

Derek made his way to the sealed shuttle doorway, searching for a way in; quickly he started working on the control pad.

"Dang, no good Kendra, the shuttle is sealed tight and it has a security code in place. Can you override it, says it requires authorization from a Doctor Ky…" his conversation was cut short as a legless necromorph, the same kind as the one from the ambush on the bridge, leapt from the roof of the shuttle, landing mere feet from him.

Backing into the shuttle door he opened fire, blasting away its arms as it made a mad dash for him faster than he could have possibly imagined something without legs could move. As the last of its arms fell away Derek dived to the side, its lifeless body slamming headfirst from its momentum into the shuttle door, its body exploding on impact.

With no chance for respite more necromorphs burst forth from the air vents scattered all over the bay, the spinning of the vents causing the rancid smell of rotting flesh to hit Derek like a wave.

More legless ones dropped in from the ceiling while more human-shaped ones like what they had first encountered emerged from the vents, some sprouting massive pulsating yellow tumors growing from their arms. Lurching his way they blocked the escape route back to the flight lounge.

"Kendra, there are way too many, are there any alternate routes out of the bay?"

Kendra's face flashed over the RIG, a welcome sight despite visually hampering Derek as he ran from the creatures, firing what few bullets he had left. "I…I don't know," he could see her fingers were moving furiously across the keyboard before her. "I don't see any other than the control room, but that's a dead end as well."

The creatures gained ground, he had taken out all the leaping necromorphs, however, the rest moved in, and he was down to his last clip once more.

"Derek, this way!" shouted a voice from the other side of the shuttle.

Confused Derek turned to the direction of the familiar voice, standing before the wrecked shuttle.

"Neumann?" Derek shouted at his old friend. He was standing next to the destroyed shuttle, unlike the pristine shuttle its doors were wide open, with a single hand Neumann motioned for Derek to join him.

"This way, get inside."

Unloading his final clip into the mob of creatures Derek made a mad dash for the shuttle, through sheer luck one of his bullets struck the glowing tumor of one of the creatures, causing it to explode, blowing many apart and throwing the mob into disarray.

As he rushed towards the opened hatch Abraham Neumann turned and took a single step into the darkened shuttle, disappearing from sight.

Sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him Derek followed, reaching the shuttle just as the necromorphs had recouped from the explosion, some maintaining chase despite several limbs blown off.

"Close…close dangit!" Derek shouted, hitting the keypad, each strike causing the door to close a little more at a snail's pace. With only inches to close a nearby creature erupted a volley of mucus-covered spikes from its mouth, slamming into the door, a single spike making it through, piercing Derek through the shoulder.

The shuttle door clanged shut, sealing him inside the utter blackness.

"Son of a bloody…," Derek groaned, pulling the spike out with a grunt, covering his bleeding wound with his free hand. "Whew, thanks for the save Abe, I thought I was a goner there…"

"Kendra….Kendra!" he shouted, bringing up his video link, using it to illuminate the shuttle interior.

As the image of Kendra flickered into life he saw a single flash of his best friend standing before him, before the video shorted out, restoring the utter blackness. Not a moment later the image shimmered into being, there was no sign of Abraham Neumann.

Despite the external damage suffered the shuttle itself had little worse for wear on the inside, only a few shorting out panels and disheveled equipment hinted at any problems.

"Derek? Dear god I thought I'd lost you, where are you now?"

"Inside a damaged shuttle, from the looks of it I think this came from the colony, you think this is how the things got aboard?"

"That or from the corpses the Captain ordered brought up, some kind of mass suicide from the colony, I'll relay the logs to your RIG. How are you doing?"

Derek tilted his wounded shoulder towards the vid screen before bringing his pistol into full view, ejecting the final clip.

"Fresh out, though if it hadn't been for your magazines I would be long dead, how many RIG signals are you detecting in the shuttle bay?"

"Don't mention it," she paused once more at Derek's second question. I'm only detecting yours and the survivor; he is still in the shuttle control room. Look around you, those shuttles usually come equipped pretty heavily for colony emergencies, see if you can find some meds and a plasma cutter or some tool you can use as a weapon."

Sighing Derek started rummaging through the shuttle, the scratching outside making it very hard to concentrate. To his dismay nearly all the lockers and storage spaces in the shuttle were bare, empty plasma cutter rounds and spent bullet casings littered the floor. Each locker had been ransacked; only a few small med kits still remained inside.

Taking one of the med packs he rammed it violently into his wound, fighting the pain as he injected the medicine. After several moments the pain subsided, the medicine had done its work, though a searing scar remained across his shoulder the wound had closed. Tossing the spent injector away his eyes fell on the final locker.

It was much larger than the others and heavily reinforced, the security lock remained tight, no one had gotten inside it, the insignia of P-Sec adorned the front.

"What is it?" Kendra asked, able to see through Derek's still activated screen.

"A Planet-side Security storage locker, they keep one of these aboard shuttles in case of emergencies, but you need to have P-sec officer level clearance in order to open it. If we're lucky they stockpiled some weapons inside before take off."

Approaching the pad Derek leaned in close, pressing the center key the pad shimmered to life.

"Enter au-au-authorization," the console boomed, its voice fragmenting as it spoke.

"Detective Second-Class Derek Michael Pendergast, badge number: Earth-5712, code word…Convergeance.

The locker hummed, a bright light flashing down the center releasing the lock, with a prolonged hiss the door swung open.

Derek's eyes grew wide, a smile forming as he could scarcely contain his joy at the sight before him.

"What is that?" Kendra asked, trying to get a good look at the inside of the locker.

"That Ms. Daniels…is a P-sec anti-riot combat RIG suit…"

**Soon to be armed with the means to fight back against the Necromorphs, Detective Pendergast continues his mission to discover the secret behind the monstrous outbreak….and save as many people as he can….**

**Sorry for the delays, with recent developments chapters may take longer to get out, but rest assured I'm still working on this! =)**


End file.
